I'll Stand By You
by Misty8
Summary: When Bradin Westerly stumbles on someone who desperately needs his help, he finds himself being thrown into a whirlwind that he never expected.-HIATUS I really hate Jesse McCartney and Summerland right now, so I have no idea when I'm going to finish this-
1. Chapter 1

I'll Stand By You

Chapter 1

Bradin Westerly woke up to a strange sound. He looked over at his brother, but he was sleeping peacefully. Confused, he pushed his covers off of him and looked out the open window. It was a sound he could barely hear, but it sounded like someone crying. He looked down the beach and saw a small figure in the distance, sitting in the sand.

He grabbed his jacket, and quietly climbed out of his window onto the balcony. He walked down the old, wooden stairs and started walking down the beach toward the figure. He could see now that it was a girl, with her long brown hair shielding her face. She was sobbing into her knees, which were curled up to her face with her arms wrapped around them.

"Hey, are you ok?" He asked the girl quietly as he approached her.

She turned around suddenly, with her back to him, as she quickly began wiping away her tears.

"I'm fine," she replied in a broken voice. "I just wanted to go out for a walk."

"At two o'clock in the morning?" He looked at her jeans and T-shirt, and noticed that she was shivering. "Here," he took off his denim jacket and placed it around her shoulders.

She bit her lip and turned around to look at him. "Thank you," she answered quietly.

He smiled, "I'm Bradin."

"Christine," she replied, looking down at her feet. She rubbed her arm and Bradin noticed that she had many scratches and bruises.

"So, why are you here, really?"

She looked down at her feet again, "Because I can't go home."

"Why can't you go home?"

Barely audible, she whispered, "Because my dad came home drunk again. I think that it's better to stay away for the night than to get in his way."

Bradin nodded, not knowing exactly what to say. He looked back up to the house and got an idea of how to help her. "Why don't you come stay at my house tonight? It's better than you staying out here and freezing."

She looked at him, surprised. "I can take care of myself, and besides, I don't even know you."

Bradin shrugged, "Yeah, but you still need a place to stay. Do you trust me?" He stuck out his hand to help her up. She bit her lip and looked out at the freezing, cold ocean. She nodded and gave him her hand, as he pulled her up.

They climbed back up the stairs and into the window. Bradin motioned to his sleeping brother in the opposite bed, "Don't want to wake up Derrick," he whispered.

She nodded and looked around his room nervously.

He understood, "Here, you sleep on my bed and I'll sleep on the floor."

"No," she whispered loudly. "This is your bed; I'll sleep on the floor."

Bradin shook his head stubbornly, "No. You sleep in the bed; I'll sleep on the floor. Now, stop arguing before we wake Derrick up, and he'll wake up the whole house, and we sure don't want that."

She laughed quietly. "Okay, you win." She slipped out of her flip flops and lay down on the bed, pulling the blankets up to warm herself. Bradin watched her sleep for a long time, wondering what would happen to the strange girl, once she left in the morning. She was very pretty, with mesmerizing green eyes. It was sad to think of such a beautiful girl like that having to have that kind of father.

"Dad," he whispered silently to the sky, "what should I do?" And with that, he fell asleep.

She woke up early the next morning while the rest of the house was sound asleep in their beds. She looked down, expecting to see Bradin still asleep, and was surprised when he wasn't there.

"Bradin?" she whispered loudly. She frantically looked around, wondering where he had gone.

Suddenly, he appeared in the doorway, carrying a plate of food. He smiled, and walked back over to the bed. "Here, I hope you like toast and eggs. It's the only thing I know how to make," he apologized grinning.

She smiled sweetly. "Thank you so much. You are, honestly, the nicest guy in the world."

She ate the food quickly and got out of the bed, putting her flip flops back on. "I better be getting back home, before anyone starts worrying about me."

She started to climb out the window and Bradin leaned out after her. She smiled at him and touched his face. "You really are the nicest guy in the world." She kissed his cheek softly and started to walk away.

Jay Robertson was just getting up and had just opened his door as he saw a strange girl climb out of Bradin's window in the early morning, and walk down to the beach below.

"Bradin, we need to talk," Jay stated angrily as he approached Bradin at breakfast.

"About?" Bradin looked at him, confused.

Jay rolled his eyes and grabbed his shoulder, pulling him outside, away from the others. "Who was she?"

"Who was who? Get off me man," Bradin pulled back his shoulder, now equally angry.

"Don't play dumb with me Bradin. Who was the girl I saw leaving your room this morning?"

Then, Bradin got very angry and pushed Jay off. "You don't know anything about that. Just leave me alone."

"First off, you know I'm not getting on you for having sex, but I never thought that you were sincerely stupid enough to have a girl in the room while your little brother is sleeping there?!?"

"Wait, what?" Bradin answered incredulously. "You think that that's what happened?" He laughed.

"Then what happened? And don't you lie to me."

Bradin scowled again, "I don't have to tell you anything."

"If you don't want me to tell your Aunt Ava, you'll confess."

Bradin looked away for a moment, "Look, you want me to trust you right?"

Jay nodded, confused. "Yeah."

"Then you won't tell anyone, not even Aunt Ava, about what I'm fixing to tell you, because I'm willing to bet that Christine doesn't want me to broadcast it to everyone," Bradin replied, looking back at him.

Jay nodded. "Okay."

"I heard her on the beach last night; I woke up and went down to find her upset, sitting in the sand. She said she couldn't go home because her Dad had come home drunk, and she didn't want to get in his way. I told her she could come up and stay at our house. She agreed, and we came in quietly, because I didn't want everyone waking up and bombarding her with a thousand stupid questions. She slept in my bed, I slept on the floor, nothing happened. I gave her something to eat this morning and she left. All I know about her is her name, Christine."

"You still should have come and woke one of us up," Jay said honestly.

Bradin scowled again, "I had a feeling she didn't want a lot of people knowing what was going on."

Jay nodded, "Okay, then you did the right thing, Bradin."

Bradin looked up suspiciously, "I did?"

Jay nodded, "Yeah, you're Dad would've been proud."

He nodded, remembering his prayer from the night before.

They walked back inside and finished eating breakfast, while Bradin looked back out at the beach. His eyes followed the shoreline, but it was too late. She was already gone.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Hey Bradin, are you okay?" His aunt Ava stroked his hair lovingly.

He nodded. "Yeah, I guess." He attempted a smile.

Ava wasn't convinced but she decided to let it go. "Well, all right, but I'm here when you want to talk."

He nodded appreciatively. "Thanks." He looked back down at his cereal and thought back to the night, weeks ago, where he stumbled upon Christine.

"Bradin! Bradin! You've got to take me to school!" Derrick came running through the kitchen, dragging his back-pack behind him. "Come on! We've got to go." He grabbed his older brother's arm and started pulling him off the stool where he was sitting. Bradin laughed. "Okay... okay, I'm coming."

Eventually all of the Westerly kids were in Jay's car and on their way to school.

Jay had taken in Bradin's worried demeanor lately, "Hey buddy. Have you heard anything about that girl?"

Bradin shot him an angry look and stole a glance at the backseat, even though Derrick was talking his sister's ear off. He breathed a small sigh of relief and shook his head.

"Well, maybe she moved away or something?"

Bradin shook his head. "No," He sighed. "I'm worried that her father might have put her in the hospital or something."

Jay nodded, not knowing how to respond. "It'll be okay, mate. She'll turn up." Bradin nodded again, as if just to get Jay off the topic. He turned around and watched out the window, as if expecting to see Christine walk by. She didn't.

"Hey Eric," Bradin greeted his friend as he neared his locker.  
"Hey Kansas. Did you get that homework done for Pre-Cal?" Bradin nodded, still looking around, as if she would walk through the front doors any second. Eric waved his hand in front of Bradin's preoccupied face. "Hey… hello space cadet…" Bradin shook his head and looked back at Eric. "Hey, I asked you if you could let me see it. I didn't get the last two." Bradin nodded and fished it out of his backpack. He handed it over and wordlessly walked to class.

He drummed on his desk all through English class, preoccupied with his thoughts. When he met up with Eric in Pre-Cal, he was barely able to stay concentrated on his notes. _You know what? This is stupid. She might not even go to Playa Linda High, _he thought bitterly. He picked up his books as the bell rang and walked slowly to lunch. He sat down on a bench outside with Eric and couple of his other friends.

"Uh, oh... Play Linda royalty approaching..." Lucas warned laughing. "It must be game day."

Bradin raised his eyebrows at his friend and turned around to where he was motioning. A couple of cheerleaders and football players where gathering around another picnic table near theirs. Bradin smiled and was about to shrug it off till he recognized a face with long brown hair and mesmerizing green eyes. "Christine…" he breathed. He was sure, beyond any doubt. She looked different now than she did that night. That night when she had tear-stained face, her makeup now was perfectly in place. Where her hair had once been messy and unkempt, it was now flawlessly styled and perfect. And the cheerleading outfit she was wearing didn't help matters much. It couldn't be the same girl. It just couldn't, but Bradin saw her eyes and knew that it was her. She hadn't seen him yet, so he got up to go speak to her.

"Westerly, man! What are you doing?" Eric asked, surprised.

"I'm going to talk to her."

"Do you want to die? Do you not see those football players hovering over those girls? They are out of your league."

Bradin just shrugged and walked on. He saw Christine look up, and instantly saw her recognize him. "Hey Christine."

She looked around frantically at her friends, not knowing what to say.

"Do you know this guy, Christine?" The blonde cheerleader next to her asked, while popping the gum in the mouth.

Christine nodded, still not knowing what to do. "Yeah, hello Bradin."

Her friends looked at each other bewildered. "Can I talk to you for a moment?" Bradin asked, fully realizing that coming up to her like this was not what he should have done.

"Hey dude," one of the football players started, heavily emphasizing the word 'dude'. "I think you need to go back over to your little surfer buddies over there."

Christine shook her head, "No Michael, its okay." She got up and followed Bradin to some snack machines, still severely shaken up, for having seen him again.

"So, are you okay? You know, I haven't seen you since that night. I've been worried about you." He spoke quietly.

"You don't need to worry about me. I'm fine. And I'm sorry for acting so weird. I just never expected to see you again. I just wanted to forget that night." Noticing the hurt look on his face, she continued quickly. "It's nothing about you, I promise. I'm really grateful for you helping me, but that was just a huge moment of weakness that I'd just as soon forget. I'm sorry."

Bradin nodded, trying to understand. "It's okay. I'm sorry; I shouldn't have come up to you like that."

She nodded in agreement, "I just don't want anyone to know okay. Please don't tell anyone here what happened. You haven't already had you?"

He shook his head. "No, no one."

She breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm okay, I really am. I can take care of myself."

"He hasn't done anything since, has he?"

She shook her head, becoming extremely uncomfortable and looking around for her friends.

He looked at her beautiful green eyes for a moment before she looked back at him. "What are you going to tell your friends when you go back?"

She thought for a moment. "That… that… that you wanted to know if I could tutor you in Spanish."

He looked at her suspiciously.

"What? I'm just a good liar."

She smiled and he laughed.

He looked over and saw Michael walking back towards them. "So, I guess I'll see you around then."

"Yeah, around I guess," she nodded noticing Michael. "Bye."

She walked back off to meet him before he reached Bradin. In those last few moments with her, Bradin decided something. He definitely wanted to see her around again.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"Attention students, there will be a football game tonight against Southeast High…" the intercom system blared on regardless of the student's lack of attention. Bradin searched his mind for everything that Christine had said. He had to find some way to see her again. He wasn't so sure that she was still okay. "And the first meeting of the Spanish club is today is Mrs. Davis's room, D118 after school. Please attend if you would like to join…" _Spanish! That's it!_ He thought. She said something about her in a Spanish class. Maybe she would be in a Spanish club… He smiled at his thoughts.

"Dude… what are you doing?" he felt himself being poked in the back by a pencil.

He looked back at Eric. "Hey Bradin…" Eric nodded to Bradin's paper. Bradin looked back down to his paper and instead of his usual doodles of surfboards and waves he looked down and saw random scribbling of "Spanish" and the letters C, H, and R written in the margin where his pencil stopped. He could easily guess what the word was going to be.

He just turned back and shook his head at Eric. "It's okay." He turned his attention and pretended to be taking notes, while racking his brain for a plan to pull this off.

"Is this the Spanish club?" Bradin asked as he opened the door awkwardly. The teacher nodded. "Yes," she smiled. "Are you new?"

Bradin shrugged back, "Yeah." He looked around the room to a few students already sitting in desks, and more filing in. His thoughts ran randomly, "_Maybe this is a bad idea… Even if she is in the club, she might think I'm stalking her now or something. Well, I kind of am, but still…"_

"Well, take a seat, Mr. Westerly." Mrs. Davis interrupted his thoughts, looking at his I.D. badge.

He nodded and sat in a desk towards the back. He looked around the room again for a friendly face, but didn't recognize anyone. Soon enough, he saw her walk in. He sunk lower in his desk, remembering the way she acted at lunch when she saw him.

The meeting began with usual "Welcome back" and "How was everyone's summer?"

"The first order of business," Mrs. Davis started, "is the annual Back-To-School Bash. As most of you know, every club has a duty to run a booth at the carnival. Now we have been selected to host the…"

"Kissing booth!" someone yelled out from the back of the room, to meager laughter.

Mrs. Davis pretended to smile, "No, John. This year we have the honor of hosting the Ferris wheel, which is good news for us, since it is the biggest fundraiser. I will need a committee to find a good and affordable Ferris wheel we can rent for the night and I will need those members to help set up."

A lot of hands went into the air, though Bradin kept his down. He was sitting to far away and at a bad angle from Christine to see if she volunteered. Mrs. Davis wrote down the names of the volunteers as the each let their hands down. "Oh, and I need two, just two, people to volunteer to paint the signs and to put a few up after school to advertise." He could see Christine start to raise her hand, so he followed suit. "Good, Christine Ackerman and Westerly…" She looked up, at Bradin with a puzzled look. "What is your first name?"

"Bradin," He hadn't looked at Christine since he raised his hand, so he stole a glance at her now. To his dismay, she was looking away from him, and fidgeting quite a bit.

He frowned, thinking now that he might not have done what was best. He couldn't pay attention for the rest of the meeting, but lucky for him it was short. He stayed behind a few minutes to wait for Christine.

"Hey Bradin," she smiled softly at him as he came up to her. "Hey Christine," he smiled as he opened the door for her out of the classroom.

"So when is this carnival thing anyway?"

"In two weeks," she answered simply. They continued walking out towards the driveway of the school.

"So when do you think we need to start working?"

"I don't know," she looked away and ran her fingers through her hair.

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah, I just have a headache," she breathed, giving him a small smile.

He looked back at her, "Hey, can I walk you home or-"

_Honk! Honk! _

"Hey Chrissy! Want a ride?" A big jeep pulled up with some of the cheerleaders Bradin remembered from this morning, along with Michael and another football player.

"Yeah, sure!" Her strange demeanor was gone and she climbed up into the jeep. Bradin looked crestfallen, but he looked back up at her. "See you, Christine."

"Bye Bradin," she gave him a sad smile as she climbed into the jeep, but after a second it was gone. She was laughing and having fun with her friends. He watched the jeep until it faded into the distance. Then he turned and started walking in the other direction toward the Jay's shop.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"Hey, I uh... need your help," Bradin asked as he walked up to Jay, scratching his head, astounded at his own desperation.

"Let me guess, you get in trouble at school?"

Bradin shook his head.

"You need money?"

"No," Bradin gave a small laugh.

"Girl trouble?"

Bradin nodded.

"Well, you've come to the master. I know all."

Erika coughed loudly from the storeroom.

"I heard that," called Jay.

"I know," Erika called back.

Bradin plopped up on the table. "Yeah, there's this girl. She's kind of out of my league."

"Cheerleader?" asked Jay, while counting the money in his register.

"Yeah, why?" Bradin looked up at him.

"Always is," smirked Jay.

"Okay, what exactly makes this girl 'out of your league'?" Erika inquired as she walked out of the storeroom, with an armful of boxes.

"She's a cheerleader who's always surrounded by football players, and she's one of the most popular girls at Playa Lind High," he answered as he helped Erika with the boxes.

"Does she know you?" asked Jay as he closed the register.

"Yeah, she knows me. We have a project we have to do together for Spanish club. We have to make signs for the Ferris wheel at the carnival and stuff."

Jay raised an eyebrow, and Erika continued, "Tell me about these football players. Is one of them her boyfriend?"

"I don't know. I don't think so, but they're all pretty protective of her, well, at least around me," Bradin shrugged, sitting back down on the table.

"Dude, you'll never catch the wave, if you're afraid of the shark," Jay quoted, pleased with himself.

This time, Erika and Bradin both raised their eyebrows at Jay silently. "What? What?" Jay tried to defend himself.

"You've had better."

They all shared a laugh for a minute.

"Alright Jay, can you and Bradin lock up? I've got to run to the grocery store before I go home," Erika replied as she checked her watch.

Bradin nodded, "Yeah, we have it. Go ahead."

Erika nodded and walked out.

"Okay. Mono y mono, have you found that girl yet?" asked Jay quietly after he was sure that Erika was out of earshot.

Bradin nodded, "Yeah. That's her."

"Her? That girl that's out of your league?"

"Yep," Bradin nodded sighing.

"Well, then my advice is to not give up on her. Keep talking to her, running into her. It'll keep you in her head at least."

Bradin nodded again and started locking up for the night.

As they closed the door, Jay tried his attempt at sage wisdom once more. "Just remember this, buddy. If this girl likes you, she does. If she doesn't, she doesn't. Don't shed too much worry on it."

But Bradin did worry about her. He worried about her a lot. He didn't see her for the next few days at school. Undoubtedly, she was avoiding him. He was sure of it. His friends noticed something was amiss with Bradin, but they had the good sense to not ask him about it And as he walked into the Spanish meeting on Wednesday, he .

"Mr. Westerly, do you know where Ms. Ackerman is today?" Mrs. Davis interrupted his thoughts.

"No ma'm," he replied startled.

"Mrs. Davis," another student raised his hand. "I believe that Christine is out with the flu. She's been out all week."

The teacher nodded. "Mr. Westerly, if you could please remind Ms. Ackerman that the carnival is next Friday night, and please inform her that I would like to see some posters up by this Friday."

"Yes ma'm," he replied sighing softly. He looked around the room for anyone that might have Christine's phone number, and his eyes stumbled upon one of her cheerleading friends from a few days before. _Maybe she will have her number,_ he thought hopefully. He caught up with her after the meeting. Sure enough, the girl had her number, which left Bradin wondering how exactly he was supposed to talk to her when he got in touch with her.

"Hello is Christine there?" he asked awkwardly, shuffling against the couch.

"This is she," a voice answered back.

"Hey Christine, this is Bradin," he tried to say coolly.

"Hey Bradin, what do you need?"

"Since you weren't at Spanish today, Mrs. Davis said that we have to have our posters up by Friday."

"Which means that we probably have to get them done tomorrow night or afternoon, right?"

"Yeah, do you want to come over to my house tomorrow to work?"

"Sure, what time?"

"About six or so? Are you going to be at school tomorrow?"

"No, I don't think so," she gave a cough into the phone.

He gave her his address and they said their goodbyes. He hung up the phone and leaned back on the couch. He gave a sigh, out of relief or worry, he didn't know. But he was going to spend some time with her tomorrow, and that was enough for now.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

A knock came at the door. "I've got it Aunt Ava!" Bradin sprinted for the door, preventing Ava from opening it. He checked the mirror quickly to make sure his hair was okay, and then he opened the door.

"Hi Bradin," Christine smiled sweetly, as he opened the door.

"Hey Christine," he returned the smile as he took in her appearance. She was wearing old jeans and a very baggy sweatshirt. _She's different every time I see her, _he thought.

"Um… can I come in?" Christine asked teasingly.

"Oh yeah, sure," he opened the door and moved out of the way as he silently berated himself.

"Did you bring the supplies?" he tried to make conversation as she set down her backpack. She nodded, "Yeah, I've markers, paint, colored pencils, and more poster board than we probably need." She laughed, and Bradin decided that he really liked her laugh.

"Where do you want to work?"

"In here is fine," he answered as he removed a lot of Derrick's toys from the kitchen table.

"G.I. Joes, huh? Now I can see what you were working on before I got here," she laughed as she helped him clear the table. He laughed embarrassingly. "No, I've got a little brother."

"Oh," she smiled as she motioned to herself, "only child."

"Must be nice."

"Sometimes, other times it gets kind of lonely."

Bradin nodded, thinking that getting her on the subject of her family might not be the best thing. They both sat down and started working. They talked about anything and everything. An hour later, they were nearing the end of their supplies, when the doorbell rang.

"I've got it," declared Susannah as she walked into the room, followed quickly by Derrick. They opened the door to reveal a pizza man.

Susannah paid the man as Bradin and Christine continued working. Susannah set the pizza down on the counter, while Derrick started jumping up and down in anticipation.

"Hello Bradin's friend," Susannah smiled as she walked up to the table. Christine smiled back as she introduced herself. "Hi, I'm Christine."

"Oh yeah, Susannah this is Christine, Christine this my… well, this is Susannah," Bradin pitched in.

"Well, Christine would you like to stay for dinner? We have pepperoni and cheese," Susannah asked as she stopped Derrick from stealing a slice of pizza.

"Oh, I can't. I've got to cook dinner. In fact," Christine checked her watch and stood up. "I need to be going about now anyways."

Bradin stood and grabbed his jacket from the chair. "I'll drive you."

"Sorry, Bradin. Jay and Ava are both working late, and they have the cars. That's why we're ordering in," Susannah responded.

"Well, then I'll walk you."

"You don't have to do that," Christine shook her head.

"No, I want to."

Christine shrugged back, "Well, okay. But it's a long walk."

He just smiled and walked with her out the door. He walked out with his hands in his pockets, wanting very much to take her hand, but very hesitant to do so. They walked in silence for a good bit of the walk, just enjoying each other's company. They reached a crowd of people near the bus stop. As they passed, some stranger came running through and slammed into Christine, almost knocking her into a wall. She nearly screamed in pain. She clutched her left arm as though it was broken. He grabbed her arm and moved back the arm of her sweatshirt to see how bad it was. He saw deep purple, black and blue bruises, and he found a sick feeling in his stomach, when he realized that those bruises weren't just from that stranger. She pulled her arm away quickly and backed away.

"Christine…" he started, not very sure what to say. Everything was making appalling sense, the baggy sweatshirt, her missing school…

"Don't start Bradin," her happy demeanor was gone, replaced by a strange anger that he hadn't seen yet.

"But Christine, he's hurting you," he answered her worriedly.

"And what are you going to do about it? You can't save me, Bradin. You can't help me; you can't protect me, you can't do anything for me. So don't feel responsible for me, I don't need your help. I'm fine on my own."

"What about your Mom?" he asked, taking a deep breath.

"My mom?" Her eyes went wide as she neared hysteria. "My mother left my father for another man five years ago. She doesn't care about me. She never did. That's why she's in Florida or wherever now."

Bradin bit his lip cautiously; "You know you don't deserve this…" he trailed off.

"Like hell I deserve it! But I've got no one else and nowhere to go. What do you think? I'm going to run into your arms every time he hits me? I don't think so. I suck it up for a while and I'm gone after I graduate," her voice turned unnervingly hard and Bradin stayed silent. "The best thing you can do for me is to just leave me alone. I can't trust you not to turn your back on me. So I'll make it easy for you. Just stay out of my life."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6-

"I don't know what to do about her, Jay," Bradin confessed, sitting on one of Jay's chairs in his guesthouse.

"So, she pretty much told you that she wants you to stay away from her?" Jay asked, nodding.

"Yeah," Bradin sighed.

"And just to be sure, you're not stalking her or anything, are you?"  
Bradin looked up in surprise, "No, of course not!"

"Just checking, okay then, my advice is this: Talk to her again. Her telling you that was her saying that she wants help, but won't ask for it unless it's offered. Girls always want the opposite of what they say. The most important thing is for her to trust you."

The a few mornings later, he found her on the steps before school. He guessed that she got there early frequently, because she was listening to a CD player and reading a book. He took a deep breath and fixed his hair quickly before walking up behind her. He gently pulled back her headphones, since she didn't see him approach.

"Ashlee Simpson?" he guessed at her CD.

"Green Day," she defended herself, obviously very offended.

He raised his eyebrows, "What? Angry, teenage girl-power rock isn't your forte?"

"I left it at home," she ran her fingers through her hair and looked away coyly.

He laughed, "I like Green Day too, though I'm more of Simple Plan person."

She nodded in agreement," The Killers?"

"Definitely. Maroon 5?"

She wrinkled her nose, "'Harder to Breathe' was good, but then they became way too poppy."

Bradin nodded, "I agree."

She smiled at him, and then felt guilty and looked down. "I'm sorry about that night. I know that you were just trying to help," her voiced trailed off softly.

"Hey, it's okay. I just don't like seeing you hurt," he responded sympathetically. She looked up at him and smiled gently. He smiled back, and then noticed the book in her hand. "What are you reading?"

"Oh, um…_Peter Pan_, J.M. Barrie."

"Book report?"

"Old favorite," she grinned. "So, can you meet me tomorrow before the carnival so we can put up the posters around the booth?"

"Sure, about five?"

"Yeah," she nodded as they both noticed more and more people walking into the school. Bradin looked up and saw a couple of familiar football players and cheerleaders nearing the steps, as the first bell rang. "Can I walk you to class?"

"Nah," she replied as she looked behind her at her friends. "I'll be okay. See you at five?"

"Can't wait," he grinned as he left her to her friends. The guy named Michael eyed him suspiciously as he walked away, but Bradin didn't care. He was going to see Christine again this afternoon and that made his day a lot better.

"What're you grinning at, Kansas?" Lucas interrupted his thoughts, as Bradin was stopped at his locker.

"Nothing," Bradin tried to suppress his smile as he stacked his history book in his locker.

"Yeah," Lucas rolled his eyes. "Who is she?"

Bradin turned around and raised an eyebrow to his friend.

"Don't give me that look. You know that I am psychic. I was sent her to help you with all of your massive girl problems," then he added in a broken "Miss Cleo" accent, "Tell me now, or forever hold your peace."

"You dork," Bradin laughed. "I can't afford to be seen with you."

Lucas continued the charade, "C'mon man, tell me what you're smiling about."

"Okay, okay," Bradin looked both ways suspiciously, "only if you stop."

Now it was Lucas's turn to raise an eyebrow. "Do you have something to hide?"

"No, it's just," Bradin thought for a moment as they walked along to first period, "it's just, I don't want to jinx it."

"Okay dude, you're secret's safe," Lucas responded in his regular tone of voice.

"You know that girl, Christine?"

"The cheerleader that you've been staring at for at least a week? Sure," Lucas replied nonchalantly as they walked into their first class.

Bradin tried not to look guilty as he nodded. "Yeah, I just… I like her a lot. I want to ask her out, but I don't want to scare her."

"Man, just and her out. No _if's_, _and's_, or _but's _about it. Just do it. If you really do care about her, then you need to tell her, before it's too late."

Bradin just smirked as he sat down. "Wow, with all that good love advice, it's a wonder why you don't have a girlfriend."

Lucas sighed dramatically, "I guess my vast knowledge is way too intimidating."

"Misters Bradin and Lucas, would either of you care to read your answer to the journal question on the board?" came the unnerving voice from the front of the room.

Bradin looked down at his blank paper, and then back up to the board, "_Where do you go and what do you do when you want to be alone?" _it read.

"Um, I get on my board and surf for a while, that clears my thoughts," Lucas answered off the top of his head.

"Alright," Mrs. George nodded. "And you, Bradin?"

Bradin thought for a moment, "I don't know…"

"Mhmm," smirked Mrs. George. "Then maybe you'd better come in here and start thinking about the journal topic than talking to Lucas."

"Yes ma'm," Bradin answered as he slid low in his seat. After school, Bradin took the posters out of his lockers and started making his way to the soccer field where the carnival was being set up. He set down his backpack and started taking out some of the posters as he saw Christine walk up.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7-

"Hey Bradin," Christine grinned as she set down her messenger bag alongside the ticket table.

"Hey," he returned the smile as he finished fishing the posters out of his backpack. She looked around the deserted soccer field. "I guess we're the only ones left out here," she continued as she pulled her hair back.

"Yeah, the Science Club or Key Club, or whatever finished setting up the cotton candy stand as I walked up."

"Cotton candy?" She grinned mischievously. "Want to steal some?"

He pretended to act shocked for a moment, "You want me to help you steal cotton candy?" He then returned her mischievous grin: "Let's do it." He grabbed her hand as they ran to the adjacent booth.

Bradin hopped over the counter, "What'll it be? Pink or blue?"

"Blue, definitely."

He reached under the counter and brought out two blue, already packaged cotton candies. He jumped back over the counter. "Here ya' go."

She smiled sweetly, "Thanks." They walked leisurely back to where the Ferris wheel was being set up. Then, they worked for a while, taping up the posters and such.

As they finished the last poster, Christine looked at her watch. "I've got to get going, to get changed and everything," she said as she picked up her bag off the dead grass.

"Will you save me a ride on this thing?" He asked in a shy manner as he readjusted one of the chairs.

"Sure," she smiled at him, mentally noting the strange shyness that had crept into his voice suddenly. She gave him a small wave as she left him there. When she was gone he silently berated himself for his childish question. He picked up his backpack and began to walk rather quickly to his Aunt Ava's house.

An hour later, he emerged from the small beach loft, hair combed and freshly showered. He borrowed Jay's car and drove toward the school. He checked his watch, six o'clock. So as to not appear overeager he swore to himself that he couldn't ask Christine for that Ferris wheel ride until at least seven-thirty. He spotted Lucas and Eric heading his way.

"Dude, I'm hungry," Eric complained as he and Lucas reached their destination.

"Aren't you always?" Bradin laughed as they started walking around the carnival.

"Eric's right, let's get something to eat," Lucas replied as they neared the cotton candy stall. Bradin smirked inwardly as he stepped up to the window.

"Its 2 for a large cotton candy and 1 for a small," the teenage girl repeated as she prepared to take Bradin's order.

"I'll just take one small," he handed her a five dollar bill as she handed him his cotton candy. "Keep the change."

The girl looked at him strangely, but shook her head, "Okay."

Bradin happened at that time to glance to his right where Christine was presently standing, and watching him with a strange expression on her face. "I am such a dork," he thought bitterly as he looked away quickly. "I can't even steal some cotton candy."

"What was that about?" asked Eric as they started walking back to the rides.

"Nothing," Bradin answered. "Let's go on that spinning, tilt-a-whirl thing over there."

They rode rides for an hour, with Bradin checking his watch at least twice every five minutes, making it the slowest hour in history for Bradin. At about seven-fifteen he couldn't take it any more. He searched for Christine and finally spotted her, coincidentally enough, looking up at the Ferris wheel. He abandoned Eric and Lucas for the time being, choosing to ignore his seven-thirty restraint.

He walked up behind her, but before he could say anything, or even before she turned around.

"How about that ride, Westerly?" She then turned around and looked at him as he raised an eyebrow at her.

"What, do you have eyes in the back of your head or something?"

She gave a playful grin, "I have mystifying powers beyond your imagination."

He continued the disbelieving look.

"I saw you walking up in the mirror," she smiled bashfully.

He laughed and smiled back at her, "Would you like that ride now?" She nodded and he paid the worker for both of them.

She watched him for a minute as their car started to ascend. It almost unnerved him, until he finally looked back at her. "What is it?"

"That was a really sweet thing you did, going back and paying for the cotton candy and all. You're a really good guy, Bradin."

He smiled sheepishly, and then gathered his courage as they were stopped at the top of the Ferris wheel. He leaned in just as she did and brushed his lips against hers gently. She kissed him back softly and he wrapped his arms around her. All of sudden, she pulled away forcefully and kept repeating "No," loudly. Bradin was baffled; he wasn't sure what he had done wrong.

"No, I want to get off."

"What's wrong, Christine? Please tell me," Bradin pleaded with her as the ride came to a stop with them at the bottom. Christine bolted off the ride and ran to the parking lot. She jumped into her car and sped off. This time, Bradin was just a few yards behind her. He ran as fast as he could to where Jay's car was parked. He revved it in gear, and followed her. He wasn't going to let her go again.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8 -

Bradin drove along after her small blue car, ignoring the speed limits, determined not to lose her. After about fifteen minutes, she finally pulled into a parking lot that Bradin recognized as being connected to Spanish Cove. She got out of her car and started walking down the beach, obviously not knowing that Bradin was watching her. He thought for a moment and then pulled into the parking lot. He grabbed his jacket from the backseat and got out of the car.

He followed her until she sat down in the stand, pulling her knees to her chest, and in a position that was all too familiar to Bradin. "Why are you so scared of me?" he asked aloud, trying not to frighten her. "I'm not going to hurt you," he said as he sat down next to her in the sand.

"Yes you will," she said quietly with a hint of bitterness in her voice.

"Why would you think that? I like you a lot Christine. I care about you."

"You'll let me down like everyone else has done before. I can't trust you not to do that. Like I told you before, I can only trust myself."

"You don't really believe that," he replied with a slight daring. "You like me too. You know that you can trust me, that I won't hurt you."

When she didn't reply, he continued. "What you said that night, about you running into my arms every time he hits you? Well, I'm here to tell you that you can."

Christine continued her silence but tears began streaming down her cheeks. Bradin was spent. He didn't know what else to say. She needed someone, she desperately needed someone to help her, but she just keeps pushing him away. Bradin looked down at the patch of sand separating them.

"I can't, Bradin," she said softly while continuing to look down.

"Why?" he answered looking up at her.

"I don't deserve anything good to happen to me. I don't deserve you."

"Oh God," he thought. He wrapped her into his arms. "You deserve so much better than you know," he whispered in her ear. He held her for a long time, trying not to force her to speak or do something.

After a while, she backed out of his arms slowly. He wiped her tears away with his fingers and she gave him a tiny, but grateful smile.

"I do care about you. I do really like you, Bradin. But how are you so sure that this is going to work out?"

"Because I think it can," he shrugged. "You'll have to trust me. Do you?"

She nodded slowly. "Can you kiss me again?"

He smiled genuinely and kissed her again, more tenderly than before. When he finally pulled away, she looked back at him and smiled. "Yeah, I definitely trust you."

They both got up and started walking, hand-in-hand, down the beach. He put his famous jean jacket around her shoulders, to shield her tank top from the chilly ocean breeze. "So, tell me more about you," she pressed. "Tell me about your family."

"Well, last summer, my parents died in a flash flood, so we, my little brother and sister and I, moved here with my Aunt Ava. So right now, Derrick, Nikki, and I are all living with my aunt and her roommates, Johnny, Susannah, and Jay."

He looked back at Christine and could tell that she was visibly speechless. "Wow, uh… I don't know what to say. I'm sorry about your parents."

"Me too, but thanks."

She gave a small smile, "So I guess I'm not the only one with family problems."

He laughed a little, "We're all right, I guess. It's kinda hard though."  
She nodded, "Yeah, I can guess. I'm here for you if you need it." Then she laughed, "Hey, I thought you were brought here to console me."

He laughed with her cautiously, not sure how to reply.

"Hey, it's all right," she mused noticing his uneasiness. "I need to be brought to my senses every once in a while like every other girl." He smiled and she continued shyly. "So are we now, like, a thing?"

Bradin looked up, surprised at the question. "Yeah, um… that is if you want to be…" he trailed off, again unsure of what to say.

"Yeah, I guess. That would be nice."

"There's one thing though," Bradin said suddenly, causing both of them to stop walking.

"What?"

"Your dad," he started simply.

"Bradin, I can't."

"Christine, you have to. I can't let you go back to that house. I won't see you hurt."

"Bradin, I can't just not go back. He doesn't hurt me that bad. It just looks worse than it feels. Trust me, the worst is just a black eye and bruised arm. He hasn't even put me in the hospital or anything."

"Not yet," he replied sourly.

"You'll have to drop it, Bradin, because I can't leave. Believe me, if something happens, I'll run to you in less than a second. And if he does hit me, I'll find you later. I'll be okay. Just don't say anything to anyone, please. Respect my wishes, please."

Against his better judgment, he nodded. "Okay, but if it's anything worse…" he couldn't finish because she interrupted him.

"It won't be."

"So," continued Bradin, trying to change the topic. "Back to the carnival or what?"

"Nah, I'd just rather keep walking. I like this a lot better."


End file.
